Astronomy Merit Badge
The nine requirements with the parts that need a clear night marked as such, the two numbered cross-references drawn as arrows, and requirement 8 shown as the counselor-agreed decision that reorders everything else.
10 steps (31 parts inside them). 8 parts depend on questions you have not answered yet. · Version 1, published 13 August 2026 · About Astronomy Merit Badge
No questions answered
This is the whole plan: everything that could apply to anybody. Answering the 2 questions at the address above takes out the parts that are not for you.
Which of this applies to you
You have not answered anything yet, so this is the whole plan: everything that could apply to anybody. Answering 2 short questions will take out the parts that are not for you.
The steps
Stage 1 of 10
1 step
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1. Hazards, first aid, clothing at night, and looking at the Sun Often forgotten Requirement
Four parts. Three are about standing outside in the dark and cold for hours; the fourth is the only part of the badge about daytime, and it is the one that can blind you.
4 parts
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1(d). How to observe the Sun, objects near it, and eclipses SAFELY Often forgotten This is the one part of the badge that can cause permanent injury, which is why eye damage appears in the first-aid list at 1(b) as well. This page does not describe any method for observing the Sun, objects near it, or a solar eclipse: the requirement links to the official material and that is what governs. Do not improvise, and do not use anything you have not confirmed is made for the purpose.
Stage 2 of 10
1 step
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2. Light pollution and air pollution, and what they do to astronomy Requirement
What light pollution is, and how it and air pollution affect the subject. It is also, in practice, the requirement that tells you why you are driving somewhere for requirement 4.
Stage 3 of 10
1 step
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3. Telescopes and binoculars: four explanations, with diagrams Requirement
With the aid of diagrams, or real instruments if you have them. Four parts covering why they matter, the kinds there are, the instruments used with them, and how to look after them.
4 parts
Stage 4 of 10
1 step
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4. The sky itself: ten constellations, eight stars, two sketches, the Milky Way Often forgotten Requirement
All of it outdoors under the natural night sky. The requirement says explicitly that a planetarium does not substitute: if instruction happens in one, the stars and constellations still have to be identified outside.
NINE PARTS OF THIS BADGE NEED A CLEAR NIGHT AND NOT ONE REQUIREMENT MENTIONS WEATHER: 4(a), 4(b), 4(c), 4(d), 5(d), 6(a), 6(b), 7(c) and most of requirement 8. In a great many places four usable nights in a week is optimistic. Every part of this badge is at least as long as the calendar suggests and often twice as long, so start the sky work first and leave the reading for the cloudy evenings, not the other way round.
A PLANETARIUM DOES NOT COUNT AS THE SKY, AND THE REQUIREMENT SAYS SO ITSELF: if instruction is done in a planetarium, Scouts must still identify the required stars and constellations OUTSIDE UNDER THE NATURAL NIGHT SKY. A planetarium visit is an excellent way to learn them, and it satisfies requirement 8(a) if that is your chosen route. It does not satisfy this one.
4 parts
Stage 5 of 10
1 step
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5. The five visible planets: named, charted for a year, and one observed Often forgotten Requirement
Four parts, and 5(b) names 5(a) by number. The chart at 5(b) is what tells you when 5(d) is even possible.
4 parts
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5(b). When each of those five is observable, a 12-month chart Often forgotten Usually comes after 5(a). The five most visible planets, and which show phases.
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5(d). Observe a planet, and describe what you saw Often forgotten
Stage 6 of 10
1 step
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6. The Moon: a face sketched, four nights tracked, orbit and eclipses explained Often forgotten Requirement
Four parts, and 6(b) is the tightest window on the badge: four sketches at the same hour and place within a ONE-WEEK period.
4 parts
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6(b). Four sketches, same hour, same place, within ONE WEEK Often forgotten THE TIGHTEST WINDOW ON THE BADGE, AND IT READS LIKE THE MILDEST LINE IN IT. Four sketches of the Moon at the SAME HOUR and the SAME PLACE, WITHIN A ONE-WEEK PERIOD, each with the horizon landmarks drawn so the position means something. Four usable evenings inside seven. Three cloudy nights in a row and that week is gone and the count starts from a new one. Begin it as early in the badge as you can and expect to need two goes, and note the escape hatch the requirement offers in a parenthesis: it allows DAYS as well as nights, and the Moon is visible in daylight for much of its cycle.
Stage 7 of 10
1 step
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7. The Sun as a star: composition, sunspots, and three coloured stars Requirement
Three parts, two of them about our own star and one that sends you outside again to find a red, a blue and a yellow one.
Stage 8 of 10
1 step
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8. One observing project of six: approved AND guided by your counselor Often forgotten Requirement
The badge says "with your counselor's approval and guidance", so this is agreed rather than simply chosen. One route makes requirement 4 a prerequisite, two need an audience, and two work under a cloudy sky.
THIS CHOICE IS AGREED, NOT MADE. The requirement opens "With your counselor's APPROVAL AND GUIDANCE", both words. It is also the only decision on the badge that changes the order of the rest: 8(b) turns requirement 4 into a prerequisite, 8(c) and 8(d) put you on somebody else's calendar, and 8(a) and 8(f) barely depend on your own sky at all. Settle it at your first meeting.
6 parts
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8(b). Plan and run an observation session: ten objects beyond requirement 4 Optional May not apply Often forgotten Usually comes after 4. The sky itself: ten constellations, eight stars, two sketches, the Milky Way. THIS ROUTE NAMES REQUIREMENT 4 BY NUMBER: ten celestial objects BEYOND those observed there. Two consequences. Requirement 4 has to be finished first, so it becomes a prerequisite of requirement 8 rather than just an earlier item. And the two cannot be done on one night, because this list is defined as everything requirement 4 did not cover, so this route is two clear nights minimum, plus the planning discussion with your counselor before and the log review after.
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8(c). Plan and host a star party for your troop or class Optional May not apply Often forgotten A group, a date and a clear night, all needed at once, and if the night is cloudy you are rearranging other people rather than yourself. Build in a fallback date when you first ask, rather than after the first attempt fails.
Stage 9 of 10
1 step
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9. A career, or a personal hobby. Do ONE Requirement
The badge states the choice itself. Both are research and a discussion, and neither needs a clear night.
2 parts
Stage 10 of 10
1 step
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Counselor signs it off Milestone
The completion date is the date you met the requirements, not the date of the signature.
Usually comes after 9. A career, or a personal hobby. Do ONE.
Merit badge requirements are republished annually. A Scout beginning work uses the requirements as they stand then; a Scout already working may finish under the ones they started with. Guide to Advancement 7.0.4.3 governs which applies. This page records the date its copy was read. Check it against the official page before relying on it.
This plan is a planning aid: the current Boy Scouts of America publication is always the authority, and the sources used here are listed in full. Each step names its own.